New School Year, New Turf

 Redwood High School begins a fresh new school year 26-27 with bright green fresh new turf being a great impact.

By: Brisa Magana 

Redwood High School kicks off the academic 26-27 school year with new artificial turf that was put in over summer, opened up to the school being used for many different purposes and being a good impact to the school.

The Turf installation happened over the summer after the old turf has been used for a while now and worn out throughout the years Brandon Gridiron, (Redwood High School Principal) says, “in our assessment of our facilities we recognized  there was a need for us to improve the quality of the turf to make sure that we prevent and avoid any injuries”.

The process of the turf being changed took a while to be reinstalled while resources and funds needed to be figured out but luckily the district was able to help out and support the process.

Gridiron says, “there were holes in different places and so our AD worked with our district team to really assess the condition of the field.

The new turf is a big cost but luckily it isn’t something that is paid for by Redwood High School and is covered by the School District. Gridiron says “All district facilities are really covered when it comes to a need like if we wanna do something to add enhancements to our school we would fund raise or figure out how to cover the cost for those different things but when it comes to updating facilities because its worn down or not appropriate that is something the district supports us with”.

The old turf was getting old, discolored, and worn out while it was affecting performances.  Liam Marr, ‘28, (Band Kid) says “its really smooth, its like alot nicer, a lot less turf getting in your shoes, it just feels better overall and it’s a lot more even and no more holes that prevent no more tripping”

The old turf was in bad condition to the point it made a big difference once the new turf was put in.

Travis Roebuck (PE Teacher at Redwood High School ), says  “It’ll make a difference especially in knee, foot injuries, lower body, cutting, planting, on top of that it should be a better synthetic and won’t be as hot as the old turf and you’ve seen all the things they have put on top of the turf as far as the pellets and things like that and that will help with the grip so it won’t be as slippery. 

The potential benefits the turf gives Redwood High School is it provides more access for programs, clubs, and activities for students to participate in. The turf isn’t just opened up to the sports team but as well as the band, redwood activities,PE department, outside event facilities are also able to use the turf when reserved leaving a multi use opening up more opportunities to being able to use that area. 

Roebuck says, “It’s great to have another facility we struggled a little bit as a department last year with space and places to go with the turf being worked on and the bowl being redone so having a designated field for us to do our physical education on is amazing and is gonna open up opportunities to our department to teach pretty much some new and old stuff”.

The turf space being closed for a good while affected different groups at Redwood High School since the space was used regularly but was changed for a good cause and improvement.

Gridiron says,  “Our school is one of the oldest in the area and there are lots of improvements that are necessary by identifying what they are and making the concerted effort by making those changes and improving the school is really what we want to do for our school”.  

The update on the Redwood Turf field was needed positively affecting curricula ‘s that go on the turf making a difference and helping them out on their different needs.

Roebuck says, “I think it’ll make a difference especially for softball and it visually looks great, redwood being one of the oldest schools in the district anything  we can do to revamp it and make our campus look a little bit stronger is a plus in our book but for the most part its a step in the right direction i wouldn’t say the first step but first in many steps to get us to where we wanna go”.

The old turf being all plain old and green being compared to the new bright green turf all dressed up being visible with yard lines etc is big for everyone.

“If you go out there the turf really looks cool from the bridge ,every time i cross over the bridge i get to see that fresh new start its kinda like that fresh new start of a school year and getting new clothes like your super  excited about the new fit or the new backpack because you know it just makes you kinda feel like fresh and its new so that’s what i hope that the new turf does for our kids and all our sports team and band and whoever accesses it that they know that we care so much about our kids and we care so much about our students and our school and that we want the best for you” says Gridiron.

The old turf gave many years of usage to Redwood High School but it did come to an end and was time to get renewed.

Dave Watts (PE Teacher at Redwood High School ) says, “The old turf has been there as long as I’ve been here and I’ve been here for like 18 years and for this being my last year here it’s a good gift to get for the PE department”.

“We should be able to get a pretty life out of this space so that way our kids can access it for years to come” says, Gridiron